Bowling bag



Nov. 18, 1958 L. H. LE GOFF BOWLING BAG 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 12,1957 .Zrbman .H.Le-Gaff INVENTOR.

' 1.. H. LE G OFF Nov. 18, 1958 BOWLING BAG 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.12, 1957 .50 man .[i ..L e Goff IN VEN TOR.

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wuuw i NW United States Patent 2,860,681 BOWLING BAG Loman H. Le Golf,Lawrenceville, N. J. Application December 12, 1957, Serial No. 702,358 8Claims. (Cl. 150-52) This invention relates to hand bags, and one of theprincipal objects of the invention is to provide a bag of special designand construction for carrying bowling balls and shoes in a moreconvenient and advantageous manner than has been afiorded by bags ofprevious types for such purposes.

Certain previous types of bags designed for carrying bowling balls andshoes require that the bowling shoes be crammed into the bag with thebowling ball, which tends not only to distort the shoes, but also toscuff the highly polished surface of the bowling ball. In other previousbags for the purpose mentioned the bag is provided with a compartment inits upper portion for the bowling ball and a separate compartment inthelower portion of the bag for the bowling shoes.

In my improved bag for carrying a bowling ball and bowling shoes, I haveprovideda central seat in the bottom of the bag and a stiff, butresilient, flat board extending longitudinally in a plane slightly belowthat of the upper periphery of the ball and rigidly secured to the endwalls of the bag, this board not only forming a compartment above theball for containing the bowling shoes in undistorted condition but alsofunctions as a spring member for clamping the ball into its seat in thebottom of 'the bag.

This construction provides several distinct advantages over previousbags designed for the purpose mentioned, among them being (1) that theball compartment being in the bottom portion of the bag and the shoecompartment in the upper portion defines a natural shape for the bag ofan attractive design particularly well adapted for convenience incarrying; (2) the complement of the heavier ball in the bottom portionand the lighter shoes in the top portion of the bag places the center ofgravity of the load substantially in the natural center of the bag, thusfurther enhancing the convenience in carrying the bag; and (3) thespring partition member bearing on the ball tends to keep the walls ofthe bag in a stretched condition and prevents sagging of the walls whenthe bag is at rest on a floor, this feature being of particularadvantage when, for example, a number of the bags are placed together instorage or transportation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a special framemember consisting of a resilient wire within a tubular plastic casinghaving a continuous radial flange, and with the projecting ends of thewire adapted for insertion in the free ends of the plastic casing infrictional engagement with the body of the wire to form a continuousring, with the walls of the bag folded over the edges of the flange andsecured by U-shaped binding strips stitched through the flange, by meansof which two transversely opposed frame members constitute a completeresilient frame for the entire bag.

Other objects and advantages of my improved hand bag will be apparent orpointed out in the following specification in which reference is had tothe accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one embodiment of my improved hand bag;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section of one of the frame members, taken on theline 4-4 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the frame member partly in section;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section corresponding to Fig. 1 taken on theline 6-6 of Fig. 2, but showing the ball and shoes in elevation;

Fig. 7 is a transverse section corresponding to Fig. 2 taken on the line7-7 of Fig. l with the ball and shoes shown in elevation;

Fig. 8 is a detail section taken on the line 8-8 0 Fig. l; r

Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of one end of the shoe supportingboard or partition;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail section corresponding to the lower righthand corner of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail section taken on the line 11-11 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference numerals designatelike parts in the several views, the ernbodiment of my improved hand bagillustrated is designated generally by the numeral 10 and is'constructedupon two transversely opposite, resilient frame members 12 of continuousring-like formation, each of which comprises a resilient wire 14inclosed in a tubular plastic casing 16 having a continuous integral,radial flange 18, illustrated in detail in Figs. 4 and 5. In theconstruction of the bag 10 the casing is cut in two at its free ends sothat the free end portions 20 of the wire normally project some distancebeyond the adjacent ends of the casing. As shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 5 thefree ends of the wire are inserted inthe opposed ends of the casing inoverlapping.

relation with the main body of the wire until the free ends of thecasing abut, as indicated at 22, thereby defining the corners of the bagwith a continuous ring. The plastic material of the casing isdeformable, as shown in Fig. 4 so that the end portions 20 of the wire14 can be forced into the casing 16 in overlapping relation with thebody portion of the wire 14 and firmly held in frictional engagementtherewith.

The walls of the bag 10 consist of four principal sec- I ferent sectionsin contrasting colors. A relatively thick horizontal supporting board 40is riveted or otherwise suitably secured to the inside of the bottom 30and a resilient bowling ball support 42 having a circular cavity 44 iscentrally mounted on the board 40 to receive a bowling ball 46. Theupper free end portions of the lower intermediate section 28 areoverlapped on the lower end portions of the upper intermediate wallsection 34 and stitched or otherwise suitably secured thereto.

A stiff, but resilient, board 48 having upturned end porn tions 50 andside portions 51, is secured insidethe overlapping end wall portions inparallel relation with the bottom 30 by means of rivets 52 or othersuitable means. I

The normal plane of the bottom surface of the board 48 is, preferably,slightly below the upper periphery of the,

ball 46 so that when the ball is placed in the central cav: ity 44 ofthe support 42 the central portion of the board 48 will be forcedupwardly, thereby placing the ball under slight resilient compressionbetween the board and the support, thus precluding displacement of theball from the support when the bag is dropped or otherwise subjected tojolting action. It will be observed that .the

cavity 44" is so formed'thatthe'ball rests only 'on its edge..

The board 48 also defines. an upper compartment for containing apair ofbowling shoes 54,. which rest upon the top surface of the board; Theupper intermediate wall section 34 is split. along its ends and one sideasshown at 35 to provide an. opening to the shoe compartment, and aconventional zipper 56 or other suitable fastening means is attached tothe edges of the opening for holding the edges in closed relation. Alsothe lower portion of the frontal wall section 24 is. split in the formof an arch of greater width and height than the diameter of the ball, 46te enable the ball to be placed in the cavity 44 andremoved therefrom,the split forming a hinged closure 58, which may be provided with awelted edge, and also having a conventional zipper 60- or other suitablefastening means for securing the closure to the opposededge of thearched opening, which also may be welted. The closure 58 may have aframe 62 attached to its outer surface for containing an identificationcard 64. A pair of handles 66 is attached to the upper outer surfaces ofthe front and rear wall sections as illustrated. A pair of'separatesheets of fabric 68 may be secured between the floor board 40 and thebottom wall portion 30 to form pockets 69 inside the end walls of thebag. It will be seen that the front and back walls 24 and 26 are spacedapart a suflicient distance so that the ball 46 fits between the wallswithout stretching them.

The manner in which the wall sections are attached to the resilientframe members 12 is illustrated in enlarged detail in Figs. 3, and 11.As shown in Fig. 3 the edges of the front and end sections 24 and 28 areinfolded into overlapping relation with one of the sides of] the flange18 and the intermediate section 28 is infolded into overlapping relationwith the opposite side of the flange 18. The ends of the two sectionsare then inclosed by a U-shaped binding strip 70 and secured thereto bystitching therethrough. as shown at 72. However, the sheets forming thebag walls and the binding strips may be made of a material which can beattached together by thermal sealing, or other suitable means. It willbe observed that the angle of the axis of the strip 70 when disposed asshown in section in Fig. 3' merges into vertical portions 74 extendingalong the front and rear sections 24 and 26, the construction being thesame at both front and rear, and the change of angle of the strip isrendered possible due to the deformability of the frame members 12. Asshown in Fig. 10 the flanges 18 at the lower corners. of the bag areparallel with the front and rear sections. Otherwise the manner ofattachment of these sections and the bottom wall 30 to the frame memhersis. the same as above described. As shown in Fig. 11. the upper portionsof the frames are twisted so that the flange 18 is disposedhorizontally, but otherwise the construction is the same as shown inFigs. 3 and 10. The board 40 is secured to the bottom 30 of the bag bymeans of rivets 76 which are provided at their lower ends with roundedheads 78 which serve as floor supports for the bag.

It will be seen that in the completed bag the cylindrical portions ofthe frame members 12 surround the outside corners of the bag incontinuous rings, thereby imparting an attractive finish to the bag.Because of the resiliency of the frame members the shoe compartment mayeasily be opened widely.

Obviously, various changes and modifications of my improved bagconstruction may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofmy invention. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiment ofmy invention shown and described is intended to be illustrativeonly, andrestricted. by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a bag of "thecla'ss described including side, end, top and bottomwalls and a central concave bowling ball support on the inside of saidbottom wall, a resilient partition board having upturned end and sideportions, fastening means projecting through said portions and the endand side walls of the bag, thereby attaching said board to said walls ina horizontal plane with the plane of its bottom surface. slightly belowthat of the upper periphery of the ball when in said support, said boardforming a shoe compartment in, the upper portion of the bag and alsoproviding means for pressing the ball against said concave support,anopening in the top wall and portions of the end walls to said shoecompartment, an opening in one of said side walls to permit theinsertion into and the removal of the ball from said bag, and means forclosing each of said openings.

2. A bag of the class described comprising a pair of transverselyopposed resilient frame members of continuous ring-like. formation, eachincluding a resilient wire inclosed in a tubular plastic casing havingan integral, continuous radial, flange, and in which projecting ends'ofthe wire are inserted in said casing in overlapping and frictionalengagement with the body of the wire'and with the ends of the casing inabutting rela tion to form a continuous ring-like frame, flexible sheetsattached to said radial flanges by means of U-shaped binding stripsinclosing infolded edge portions of adja cent sheets and the flanges, toform side, end, top and bottom walls of the bag, a central concavebowling ball support on said bottom wall, a partition board attached atits ends to the end walls of'the bag in a horizontal plane approximatelycoincidental with the upper periphcry of the ball when in said support,said board forming a-shoe. compartment in the upper portion of the bag,an QP U lg. n th top wa a d p ti of h nd walls to said shoecompartment,an opening in one of said side walls to permit the insertion into andthe removal of the ball from said bag and means forclosing each of saidopenings.

3. A bag of the class described comprising a pair of transverselyopposed resilient frame members of con.- tinuous ring-like formation,each including a resilient wire inclosed in a tubular plastic casinghaving an integral, continuous radial flange, and in which project,- ingends of the wire are inserted in said casing in over.- lapping andfrictional engagement with the body of the wire and with the ends of thecasing in abutting relation to form a continuous ring-like frame, acontinuous sheet attached to said radial flanges by means of U-shapedbinding strips inclosing edge portions of adjacent sheets infoldedagainst opposite sides of the flanges,

to form the bottom and a portion of the end walls of said bag, othersheets attached to said flanges in like manner to form the sides of saidbag, another sheet attached in the like manner, to, said flanges and tothe aforesaid continuous sheet to form thetop of said bag, a centralconcave bowling ball support on said bottom wall, a partition boardattached at its ends to the end walls of the bag on a horizontal planeapproximately coincidental with the upper periphery of the ball when insaid support, said board forming a shoe compartment in the upper portionof the bag, an opening in the top wall and portions of the end walls tosaid shoe compartment, and an opening in one of the side walls to permitthe insertion into and the removal of the ball from said bag.

4-. A bag according to claim 2 in which a reinforcing board isinterposed between the bottom of the bag and the concave support.

5. A bag according to claim 2 in which infolded'edge portions of thesheets forming the walls of the bag are secured to the radial flanges ofthe frame members by means of U-shaped binding strips inclosing theflanges and edge portions. and stitched therethrough.

6. A bag according to claim 2 in which said partition board is providedwith upturned end and sides and board is resilient and in which thebottom surface of including means for attaching said upturned ends andsaid board is in a plane slightly below that of the upper sides to theend and side walls of the bag. periphery of the ball when in thesupport.

7. A bag according to claim 2 in which the sheets 5 References Cited inthe file oftthis Patellt forming the walls of the bag are attached tothe flanges UNITED STATES PATENTS of the frame members by infolding theedge portions of adjacent sheets against opposite sides of the flanges,1821806 Home Sept 1931 2,302,802 Roberts Nov. 24, 1942 lncloslng theedge portions of the sheet with U-shaped I binding strips and stitchingthrough said sheets and 10 2463993 Mey-ers 1949 flanges 2,580,958ROblIlSOll Jan. 1, 1952 2,754,870 Glantz et a1. July 17, 1956 8. A bagaccording to claim 2 in which the partition

